Tertiary Admission Crisis Is Imminent In 2012 -NUGS

Monday, January 9, 2012

If

Gov't Does Not Revert To 4 Years Of SHS Before May 2012

[Issued

by the National Union of Ghana Students]

NUGS

cannot but revisit the issue of the 4 year of SHS debate. In a very

dispassionate manner, the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) demands that

Government as a matter of urgency should revert to the 4 years of Senior High

School education before May 2012. This call is NON-NEGOTIABLE, and NUGS will

not relent until the SHS duration is reversed to 4 years. NUGS will employ the

use of dialogue, negotiations and will resort to demonstrations if necessary to

see the 3 year duration abolished and the 4 year policy restored to save this

generation of SHS students from the seemingly looming road block erected before

them by the NDC government. It is distressing that all the calls from

well-meaning organisations to government to reconsider its stance on this

subject have fallen on deaf ears.

The call to reverse to 4 years of

SHS education is premised on the following:

1. SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE

NUGS

will not dwell so much on the performance aspect of the case for 4 years of SHS

because it has been voiced vociferously by almost all civil society

organisations, parents, the Catholic Bishops, social commentators, etc.

It

is undeniable that the 4 years has yielded the best ever SHS results since the

system was implemented – this assertion has been supported by even the loudest

critics of the 4 year policy. Passes in the three compulsory subjects hovered

between 30 – 40% pass for the 3 year of SHS, whereas the 4 years of SHS

produced between 70 – 80% pass. The significant thing about the case for the 4

yrs is that the system had been operational for just the first time and yet it

yielded the results we are seeing. If given time for the system to be

perfected, one can only imagine the excellent grades that will be chalked.

1. THE STATUS QUO

Three

(3) years of SHS education actually means 2 years of active studies and

preparation for exams, whereas 4 years of gives 3 years of active studies and

allowing a greater period for preparing for final exams. It is obvious the 4

years provides enough time to prepare the student for final exams as opposed to

the 3 year duration.

Again,

the statistics show that 32 – 37 % SHS students gain admission to the

university at just one try under the 3 year policy. Certainly, this statistics

is not one we should be proud of as a country. Close to 70% have to write one,

two, three more times before gaining admission into the university or other

tertiary institutions - the implicit understanding then is that students

already use 4, 5, 6 years or even more to gain admission into tertiary

institutions, however the 4 year policy reduces this figure drastically making room

for over 60% to gain admission at just one try.

1. THE INEVITABLE – ADMISSION CRISIS

In

an attempt to abolish the (4) years of SHS education, both the form 3s and 4s

have to write the 2012 May/June WASSCE concurrently to normalize the trend back

to 3 years. However in doing this, the NDC government did not anticipate the

dire consequences of such an action. Should the form 3s and 4s write

concurrently, the universities and its associated tertiary institutions will

have to admit three year groups all at once. Last year saw the tertiary

institutions in the country admitting just a fraction of the 2010/2011 year

group, meaning we will have almost three year groups competing for admissions

in 2012; plus, let us not forget that we have thousands of others who have been

trying to gain admission over the years and will still be trying.

NUGS

wishes to state unequivocally that the tertiary institutions in the country

lack the capacity to absorb all of the three year groups at a go. When closely

examined, it is a suicide mission – pure and simple.

REPURCUSSIONS OF NOT REVERTING TO

FOUR (4) YEARS

(a) Going

Back To Three Years of SHS Will Create a Generation of Frustrated Young People

The

policy is going to create frustrated people, many of whom may become traumatized

and may decide to abandon higher education altogether. It is recipe for

disaster. The consequence will be a generation of dissatisfied young people who

are likely to engage in armed robbery, drug peddling, prostitution, and other

societal menace.

In

all of this, it is we the young ones who stand to face the brunt of the policy.

The policy makers may be long dead and gone when the seed being sown today

matures for harvest. And that is why there is every incentive for the National

Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) to stand strongly and save this generation of

SHS students from this bizarre experience.

(b) Going

Back To Three Years of SHS Will Reverse the Clock of Progress

A

reversal to three (3) years of SHS education will re-wide the clock of progress

achieved under the 4 years policy. The statistics speak for themselves – they

make a compelling case for restoring the SHS duration to 4 years. Everyone is

impressed with the performance of the first group of 4 years of SHS. The

question is, why would anyone in the face of such convincing evidence still

want to reverse to the 3 year system that has clearly proven not to be viable?

CONCLUSION

We

wish to call on all civil society organisations, community based organisations,

the Trade Union Congress (TUC), parents, heads of institutions, the media and

all stakeholders to revive the debate and apply pressure on government until

the SHS system is restored to 4 years before May 2012.

This

is a call to save this generation of SHS students, whose future is being toyed with.

NUGS believes we – all of us owe the SHS students this responsibility. It is

now or never.

Finally,

we hope government will heed our call to avoid the confrontations that may

follow should our call be discarded just like all others.

Peter

Kwasi Kodjie

(NUGS President)

Tel: 0242879028

Tel:

+233 242879028

+233 209207555

Address:

P. O. Box TN 1293,

Accra, Ghana.

E-mail:

president@nugsgh.org

freekodjie@yahoo.com

freekodjie@gmail.com

Website:

http://www.nugsgh.org

http://www.peterkodjie4nugspresident.org